Nick shut his eyes and gritted his teeth. How could he have been so stupid? Now Howie and Kevin were going to tease him mercilessly forever. He grimaced. His long legs were beginning to cramp from being crouched down in the same position for the last fifteen minutes.
After running around the Coliseum for forty-five minutes, the three Boys had found a hiding place in the outside smoking area near the ticket office. Howie seemed to fit perfectly underneath the table covered by the table cloth, and Kevin didn’t seem to mind it so much. But Nick was incredibly uncomfortable.
The three of them had been silent ever since they had found their hiding place, and Nick was becoming restless. It didn’t sound like there was anybody outside, so he decided to ask a question. “Do you think the coast is clear yet? My legs are hurting,” he whispered.
“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything in the past ten minutes,” Kevin answered.
“I’ll check and see if the girls are gone,” Howie offered. He shifted a little and parted the table cloth a bit. Nick leaned forward and anxiously waited for Howie to tell him what was going on.
A few seconds later, Howie closed the table cloth. “Well, there’s good news and there’s bad news. The good news is that the mob has gone down in numbers,” he whispered.
“Well, that’s good,” Kevin whispered back.
“What’s the bad news?” Nick asked.
“They have several girls standing guard outside,” Howie whispered as his shoulders fell.
Nick dropped his head to his knees. “Ah, man, what are we going to do now?” he moaned.
“I think one of us needs to act as a distraction while the other two look for a way back into the coliseum,” Kevin suggested.
“So, who’s gonna be the sacrificial lamb?” Nick asked. He sat there horrified as both Kevin and Howie turned to look at him. “Oh, no. No way. I’ll be ripped to shreds.”
“Nick, what better distraction than the most popular member? They all want you,” Howie reasoned.
“No. Besides, they all look like they’re Kevin’s age,” Nick protested.
“I think you owe us one for getting us into this mess,” Kevin pointed out.
Nick winced. “okay, okay. You’re never going to let me forget this, are you?”
Howie grinned. “No.”
Nick sighed. He parted the table cloth a little to see if he could find the girls. There was a barrier of about fifteen fans guarding the entrance to the smoking area. He closed the table cloth and glared at Kevin.
“Why am I always the sacrificial lamb?” he asked.
“Because, Mr. I-Know-My-Way-Around-Here, you got us into this,” Kevin snapped.
Nick grumbled. He took a deep breath, opened the table cloth, and dashed out. He hadn’t walked but a few inches away from the table when he heard the familiar screams. He broke into a run. He scrambled down some brick stairs and around the smoking area. He found some more stairs and ran back up them. When he reached the top of the stairs, he headed for a corner.
As he ran for it, he looked back to see Kevin and Howie running the other way. They owe me, he thought as he cut the corner.
Zoey was so embarrassed. Not only had she cried, but she had cried in front of someone. Someone who was a stranger, no less. AJ had been nice enough to hold her for a little while, but he had eventually let go and moved back to his side. She hadn’t been able to look at him since. He probably thought that she was crazy. She kept her eyes focused on the floor.
“Okay, it’s a little after five. We still have a good two or three hours to go before any locksmiths are open. I say we play a game,” AJ suggested. He had been quiet for so long that Zoey had almost forgotten he was there.
She mustered all of her courage and looked up at him. She didn’t see a trace of judgment in his face. “You still want to talk to me? Even after the fool I made out of myself?” She decided to go ahead and get the question out of the way.
“Of course,” AJ grinned. “That’s why I think we should play truth or dare, or something like that. We’ve been stuck in here long enough; we should learn more about each other.”
“You can’t really do any dares in here. Maybe we can create our own game,” Zoey suggested. She sat and thought for a minute. What kind of game could they play where she didn’t have to reveal too much about herself?
“What about twenty questions?” AJ asked. “You looked like you were trying to think of something where you didn’t have to reveal too much.”
Zoey’s head snapped up, and her own brown eyes met AJ’s. He couldn’t really read her mind, could he? He just smiled playfully. Slowly, a sly smile spread across her own face. She had an idea.
“Alright, how about this? Whoever pries out the most information about the other wins,” she said.
“Alright. You first.” AJ seemed rather confident.
Zoey eyed him and leaned forward. She crossed her legs Indian-style and prepared to play the game. AJ just leaned back against his wall without a care in the world.
“Let’s start easy. When’s your birthday?”
“January 9, 1978. When’s yours?”
“March 2, 1978. How old are you?”
“21. You?”
“Same. Why did you join the band?”
“I like to sing.”
“That’s it?”
“Hey, it’s my turn to ask a question.”
Zoey grimaced. So, he’s going to be a tough one, huh?
“Have you ever been in love?”
The smile faded from Zoey’s lips. “Can I pass?”
“No passes; you have to answer truthfully.”
Zoey crossed her arms. “I don’t want to play anymore.”
“Oh, come on. It’s just a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ question.” The light danced in AJ’s dark eyes.
Zoey rolled her eyes. “Yes,” she mumbled. “Have you?” she challenged.
“Yes.” She couldn’t explain it, but her heart sank a little.
“Alright, my turn. What was his name?” He sat up and moved a little closer to her.
She sighed. “Can’t we move on?”
“No. What was his name?”
“You’re nosy, Alex.”
“Come on, answer the question.”
Jordan, alright. His name was Jordan,” she reluctantly answered, throwing her hands into the air. “What was your girl’s name?”
“Marissa.” AJ seemed to have no problem supplying information about his love life, and this bothered her. Zoey raised an eyebrow. It dawned on her what he was trying to do. He was trying to find out why she had been crying. She didn’t want to tell him. She had only known him for a total of four hours and thirty minutes. But something about him made her want to trust him. But, no, she couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
“Zoe, it’s your turn,” AJ’s raspy voice pulled her out of her thoughts.
“Okay, why do you want to know so much about me?” she asked.
“Ah, you’ve figured out my motives,” AJ smiled. It really bothered her that he had no problem with revealing things.
His smile faded and his expression grew serious. “When a beautiful woman cries in your arms, it bothers you. I tried to do something nice for you, and you broke down into tears. I got worried.”
“I told you it had nothing to do with you.”
“Whether it has anything to do with me or not, it still bothers me. It bothers me that someone or something would apparently hurt you that much.”
Zoey looked down at the ground. “I thought you didn’t like me,” she mumbled.
Somehow, AJ had moved closer to her. He reached out and lifted her chin. Her eyes looked directly into his deep brown pools. They seemed comforting in some strange way.
He smiled at her. “At first, I thought you had a serious attitude problem. You were pretty mean. But, whether you know it or not, I’ve seen this very nice, soft side underneath that attitude. You’re actually not as tough as you appear to be. The protective part of me, not the stage presence, not the bad boy, worried when you cried. I just wanted to know if I could help.” Just then, the playful smile returned to his lips. “Now, that you’ve had your cheese for the evening…but, seriously, I do mean every word that I say.”
Zoey couldn’t help it; she returned his smile. I wonder how many girls get to see this side, she speculated. She sighed. “If I tell you about Jordan, will you tell me about Marissa?”
AJ let go of her chin and held up his hand. “Boy scouts honor; you have my word.”
She wrinkled her brow and smiled. “Were you ever a boy scout?”
He lowered his hand and laughed. “Well, no, but it sounded good, and it made you smile.” Zoey just looked down and tried to hide her dimples.
“Okay, now who is this Jordan character?” AJ prodded.
Zoey’s smile faded, and she grew serious. She sighed and began her tale. “Jordan. What can I say about Jordan? For a long time, he was my world. We had known each other ever since I had moved here. I guess we got so close that we could almost finish each other’s sentences.
“Just last year, my feelings for him began to grow into something else, and I thought that he began to feel the same way. He would do things that would seriously lead me on.” Her voice faltered. The old feelings flooded back to her, and they were almost too much to bear. She took a deep breath and shut her eyes. She had started the story, now she had to finish it.
“Six months ago, I was going to surprise him on his birthday. I was going to cook him breakfast, then I was going to lay my heart out on the table.
“I knocked on his door a few times, but no one answered. I knew he was home; I had seen his car out front. I took the key he had given me out of my pocket and went in. I called his name a few times until I heard a noise coming from the bedroom.” Zoey chuckled at her own stupidity as the memory came back to her. “Naively thinking that he had hurt himself, I ran into the room. Then my world came crashing down. He was in bed with some brunette chick I remembered from high school.”
“No wonder the episode with Billie, Brian, and Tessa had hit you so hard,” AJ interrupted softly.
“Yeah. My heart broke into a million pieces. I don’t even know if he ran after me or not. I just ran.” Zoey was crying openly. She looked up and noticed that AJ had put his arms around her.
“Is that why you pulled away?” he asked.
Zoey nodded. “Wanna know the worst part?” she questioned as she managed a small smile. She couldn’t help but laugh at the irony of her situation. “He looked just like you minus the red tips, the goatee, and the sunglasses.”
AJ pulled her into a hug, and Zoey willingly accepted it. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Once again, they sat in silence.